Further pressure was heaped on the ­England fly-half Danny ­Cipriani today as his misfiring kicking game was described as "a real issue" by his club coach, Shaun Edwards, following a mixed display for Wasps against Harlequins on Sunday.

Edwards is one of Cipriani's biggest admirers but even he is starting to wince at how often the 21-year-old's clearance kicks are being charged down. There were two more instances at Adams Park on Sunday, after similar misjudgments at Test level last year, and Edwards acknowledged there is a possibility that Cipriani will be forced to remodel his kicking technique.

"It's becoming a real issue," said Edwards, who is concerned opponents are targeting a recurring weakness. "Maybe I'll get him to put his boots on the other way round. He's [kicking] too slowly and not kicking the ball high enough. This drop punting style he uses is a nightmare for defensive coaches. The old-fashioned spiral kick was much better."

Cipriani's kicking coach with England, the former Bath full-back John Callard, said: "When you receive the ball on the back foot and under severe pressure you need to have a snap and then to get the ball away within one pace, like they do in American football. Some players like two or three steps to get into their kicking stride. If your confidence is sapped somewhat and you are struggling for a good connection, you would ­probably like to have a little bit more time on the ball to make a good contact. That could be an issue at the moment."

Only one of Cipriani's errors led to a try against Quins but Edwards has been examining Wasps' below-par defensive record this season and has fingered chargedowns and dropped high balls among the main culprits. Cipriani was responsible for chargedown tries against England by Italy, the Pacific Islanders and South Africa last year and he needs to kick the habit.

Another of Wasps' England contingent, Tom Rees, will be out for six to eight weeks with ligament damage to his left knee and is likely to miss the start of England's Six Nations campaign, against Italy at ­Twickenham on 7 February. The openside lasted less than three minutes on Sunday before twisting awkwardly. His injury could open the door for London Irish's Steffon Armitage, Bath's Michael Lipman or Leicester's Lewis Moody.